O MANNY's

How do you know if it’s time to ditch (or switch) your niche?
(From a financial adviser perspective)

You’re not getting referred.If you’re not receiving several high-quality referrals per month, you might not have an effective niche.

One of the key factors of a successful niche is that members of the group actively talk to one another. Members of your niche should share some special interest that lead to networking opportunities. If you’re not seeing the benefits of that community connection, it’s time to re-evaluate. A true niche naturally congregates and communicates.

You’re bored.

If you have to drag yourself to work every
day to serve your “niche” it’s probably not the right one
for you.

An advisor in Florida experienced this
unhappiness when he realized that as his financial
fortunes grew, he became despondent assisting
middle-class investors with their IRAs. He longed for
more challenging wealth management work, including
helping affluent clients protect assets from frivolous
lawsuits, as well as facilitate family legacy planning. He
eventually sold off part of his book and concentrated on
clientele with at least $2 million in liquid net worth.

You’re stressed out.

On the other hand, maybe
members of your niche are demanding too much from
you, and you need to re-evaluate the fit. An advisor in
Omaha came to the conclusion that she would never be
happy serving the complex needs of the affluent. She
preferred simple, straightforward investing work with
middle class “savers,” turning them into millionaires by
retirement. Her “low-stress, high-success” approach
led to a long and happy career – and many referrals.

You’re not making enough money.

Probably the surest sign you’re in the wrong niche is if your niche isn’t
supporting your business goals. Remember that
members of your niche must have assets, revenue, and
unmet needs – that you can identify and serve. A niche
serving Christian missionaries, for instance, may be
noble, but missionaries tend to give away most of their
assets. Furthermore, there should be hundreds of
qualified prospects in your niche. And you should be in
a unique position to happily serve that niche.

Where can you find a unique, productive niche?

Start by analyzing your best client relationships. Look for trends.
Are you serving particular professions or employers? Do you
have a unique skill set that speaks to a certain segment of
the population? Then analyze yourself. Can you leverage
any of your hobbies, community groups, or strategic
alliances with CPAs, and attorney? Do you come from a
family of lawyers, teachers, doctors, nurses? Turn your
unique identity into something that speaks to hundreds of
people in a particular community.

***originally written by a different author